I parked my car behind one of the car sales lots in Gorst, WA, and stepped into another world, a world of muddy tide flats, winding creeks and streams, and marshy bogs. With my satchel of watercolor gear over my shoulder and a large umbrella in my hand, I stumbled through the tall grasses and crossed the muddy creeks until I found just the right place. A few fence posts stood as witnesses to some long ago dairy farmer who ran his cattle here.
I poked my umbrella stand deep in the ground and set up my easel under its canopy. Although showers came and went while I was painting, my easel and I stayed dry. Well, almost — you can see some raindrops in the upper left corner. I used the fenceposts as a way to frame the tideflats and kept most of the washes loose.
Makes Gorst look like a calm, delicate blue-sky place, and not the shabby , forlorn, run-down place it is.
Yes, Gorst by the highway is shabby, forlorn, and run-down. But if you sneak past the tire repair shops and the used car lots, you can find another world of forgotten, pristine tide flats, with ducks, geese, and shorebirds. It’s really quite magical, like walking through the looking-glass.
Really beautiful study of a place that used to be a wonderful water and clam gathering spot for the Suquamish.
You make me feel like I’m right there.
When I walk the tide flats, I can imagine the Suquamish people gathering clams and mussels and waiting for the salmon to come up the creek.
Thanks for your comment, Sugar!
You make me feel like
I’m right there.
Thanks, Warren! Just like I feel I can sit on your balcony and look at the island of Corfu.
The distant details on the far shore really capture the imagination.
That’s good to know. I think a painting should leave something to the imagination of the viewer.